Olivier Giroud was obviously in a bad mood for not playing from the start when he came on the pitch in last night’s game in Paris, but did the Arsenal striker really deserve a red card at the end?
For his first yellow it is true that perhaps the ref had missed the foul on Giroud when he gave a free kick to PSG, but Olivier made the mistake of shouting at the referee angrily for the second time, and earned a very unnecessary caution. Whatever happened to the RESPECT rule? And if there is one thing all footballers learn from an early age is that the referees decision is final, so just accept it and get on with the game!
But the second yellow (or was it a straight red?) was quite unfounded in my eyes. Yes Giroud did block Verratti originally, but when he stood up he was pushed from behind by Marquinhos, towards the back of Verratti, but there was no contact at all and the PSG man just through himself to the ground, causing the referee to stop the game and come over to deal with the situation, which resulted in both players being sent off.
Check out this video so you can see exactly what I’m talking about…..
Footage clearly showing that Olivier Giroud was wrongly sent off after being pushed into Verrati! pic.twitter.com/DlTmskvDa8
— UberArsenal™ (@UberAFC) September 13, 2016
See what I mean?
Giroud himself stated after the game that the referee had been “had” and that there was no reason for him to get another card, and I have to say I agree with him! Olly said: “We are taking a point from the Parc des Princes, which is a good thing when you think about the amount of chances that they had. I always prefer to start football matches. I had a discussion with the manager who said that I was still approaching my top physical condition. To be precise, he considered that I am on the tangent… The red card? Being on a yellow card already, I did not want to cause a storm. I block off Verratti, he throws himself on the floor and I do not understand it. Marquinhos shoves me from behind and I do not know how Verratti falls over again the second time, it escalates the entire thing.”
“I think that the referee was had, but in the end Verratti loses as much as me and gets sent off. I was honestly surprised by his behaviour. PSG’s dominance? It would not have been a scandal had PSG won the match. The game is about efficiency and realism. At the end of the match, we could have also taken it, but we are very happy with this point.”
I reckon Giroud was definitely hard done by, although he can’t be excused for acting so aggressively when he was brought on, but the worst thing is that apparently he can’t even appeal, according to UEFA rules!